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If you like Dead Cells or Hollow Knight, check this out - 9 Years of Shadows Quick Review

3K View2023-03-27

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it. 9 Years of Shadows is a compelling action-adventure platformer that has some of the best visuals I’ve seen from the genre. It looks good enough to bring up positive comparisons to some of the most stunning games in the genre, such as Hollow Knight and Dead Cells. Add in intuitive, fast-paced combat and fantastic music, and 9 Years of Shadows is one game that shouldn’t be missed.

TIME PLAYED

I played 9 Years of Shadows for four hours. Each quest took anywhere between thirty minutes to an hour. I spent most of my time exploring the seemingly endless caverns 9 Years of Shadows had to offer and probably half of that dying repeatedly because I have the reaction speed of a turtle.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Combat. If there was one reason I’d come back to play 9 Years of Shadows over and over again, it would be to relish its electric and dynamic combat. There’s really nothing like blitzing through a cavern filled with vile-looking monsters and slashing them down with element-infused abilities. I also loved how challenging boss fights were.

• Narrative. Although there’s more fighting than talking in 9 Years of Shadows, the story is compelling and rich. The story dives into the journey of a woman named Europa who seeks to end a nine-year curse that has sapped the happiness and color out of her world. Even though I haven’t yet experienced this story to the end, it’s already provided enough action and intrigue to keep me wanting to know more about this world of darkness and monsters.

• Monsters. There are so many monsters to kill and die from that I was amazed how I kept running into new varieties. No matter if it’s a weaker monster or a boss at the end of a dungeon, each monster looks unique and has an interesting fighting style.

• Animation. 9 Years of Shadows’s impeccable animation added a lot to the story. Every cutscene is flawlessly made and almost seems as if it was grabbed from an anime series. Even moments of dialogue between different characters look amazing.

• Music. If there’s anything that I love in a game, it’s great music that keeps me grooving, and 9 Years of Shadows doesn’t fall short on that front. Whether I was fighting a massive boss, watching an animated cutscene, or simply exploring the many caverns and dungeons in 9 Years of Shadows, the game always played a catchy tune to please my ears.

• Visuals. 9 Years of Shadows has one of the most aesthetically pleasing visual styles I’ve seen across any of the action-adventure platformers I’ve played. The game’s usage of vibrant colors and shading really makes every area pop and shine.

• Saving. I appreciated that there were a ton of places for me to save my game in 9 Years of Shadows. After dying so many times because of my poor reflexes, I don’t think I would’ve gotten too far in the game if there wasn’t a safety net to catch me every time I fell.

WHAT SUCKS

• Crashing and freezing. 9 Years of Shadows occasionally froze mid-battle and even crashed a few times. The most frustrating moments were the couple of times that the game crashed just before I was able to save my game, forcing me to replay certain areas I’d already beaten before.

💬 Will you play 9 Years of Shadows or are you going to skip it? Tell me down below in the comments!

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